Face/Off – DVD Review

Pets or no pets; animals or no animals featured in the movie: For this one, we do not care! It is a bit hard to miss them, when both John Travolta and Nicholas Cage behave like animals in the action epic Face/Off.

Face/Off is one of Hollywood’s better action movies, with some amazing stunts, and mind-boggling concept, and keen acting.

An amusing and at the same time thrilling face swap between Sean Archer [John Travolta] and Castor Troy [Nicolas Cage], Face/Off enthrals the audience with its hilarious confusions, its fast paced devastations and stylized action.

Face/Off stands in a class apart with riveting nail-biting twists and turns, adrenaline pumping riotous violence and mesmerising performers by the double-faced characters.

The plot, twisty and crooked, is as follows: Archer, an FBI Agent, must take vengeance over the unbalanced terrorist Castor who killed Archer’s young son Michael. News reaches him that Castor, along with brother Pollux Troy [Alessandro Nivola] is making arrangements for a private Jet and finds it ideal time to trap both.

During the action that follows, a fire fight ensues, which sends Castor into coma but after an information leak that he is attempting to blow off the city of L.A. and its people, and has hidden a bomb at some unspecified place.

With Castor being in coma, the only person with knowledge on the whereabouts of the bomb is Pollux.

To illicit information and to foil the sinister plot Archer gets a Dr Welsh to perform face transplant surgery and gets Castor’s appearance; as also Castor’s hair, muscles and other physical parts.

Assuming thus the identity of Castor he visits Pollux in Erewhon, a high security prison.

But much to delight of the viewers, Castor wakes up from coma, learns of the face swap, gets Archer’s face transplanted on to him and meets the other guy telling him now is the time to settle scores, to contact the police as FBI agent, to take Archer’s wife Eve [Joan Allen] and molest his teenage daughter, Jamie!

In the end, the bomb is found and de-activated. Both run their routine with glee.

The fights, the chase, the final shoot out and the final kill of Castor all makes the movie till its end completely gripping and satisfying as a n action thriller.

The endearing quality of Face/Off lies in the wild abandon with which both star actors get into their dualistic identities, and revel in their different idiosyncrasies.

The action thrills leave on the audience a joyous and artistic imprint.